In this image released by HBO, Brienne of Tarth, portrayed by Gwendoline Christie, left, battles with Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, portrayed by Rory McCann, in a scene from season four of "Game of Thrones." The season five premiere airs on Sunday. (AP Photo/HBO, Helen Sloan)

This image released by HBO shows Kit Harinton, from left, Liam Cunningham and Stephen Dillane in a scene from "Game of Thrones." (AP Photo/HBO, Helen Sloan)

In this image released by HBO, an injured Sandor Clegane, better known as The Hound, portrayed by Rory McCann, left, and Arya Stark, portrayed by Maisie Williams, appear in a scene from season four of "Game of Thrones." The season five premiere airs on Sunday. (AP Photo/HBO, Helen Sloan)

It seems like everyone wants to get in on the action. HBO says there were more than 86,000 applicants to be extras on the new season of “Game of Thrones.”

Mind you, Season 5 of the worldwide hit used some 5,000 extras so applicants had a 1 in 17 chance to be a dirty-faced peasant, a sword carrier or royalty. Filmed in five countries with 202 shooting days (with usually two crews going at once), Season 5 had a cast of 166 and a crew of around 1,000.

The cost of a one-hour episode reportedly has risen to more than $8 million, a hefty budget for most independent movies.

HBO is launching this season’s “Game of Thrones” premiere simultaneously in more than 170 countries and territories 9 p.m. Sunday.

Now if we could only remember who is still alive.

Turning to the source material, George R.R. Martin’s books, won’t necessarily help. The show’s creators, David Benioff and Daniel Weiss, already have proved they are not bound by the novels. In fact, the series seems to be diverging more and more from Martin’s version of Westeros — the fantasy land “Thrones” is set in — in favor of what the producers believe are the most compelling plotlines. Martin recently teased that in the upcoming season at least one character he left alive in the novels will die.

The author recently released another excerpt from “The Winds of Winter,” the upcoming sixth book in the fantasy series called “A Song of Ice and Fire.” “Game of Thrones” is the name of the first book, but it stuck for HBO.

The new excerpt might be cause for joy for fans of the series and novels, except Martin has been writing the sixth of a projected seven volumes for more than four years. “A Dance with Dragons” was published in June 2011, two months after the premiere of the HBO series. That was six years after volume four, “A Feast for Crows” (2005).

Judging by that, “Winds” may be a couple of years off yet, and whatever the seventh book will be called wouldn’t be expected until 2023 — long after the TV series is supposed to end. (Martin published the first book in 1996.)

The concern for “Thrones” fans is: Will Martin make it? At 66, he is a portly fellow with a white beard that could get him a job as a seasonal Santa. Fans worry about his health. His blog indicates he likes cocktails. Benioff and Weiss have often told the story about pitching him the idea for the “Game of Thrones” series as he was eating a buttered steak. Martin says it won’t matter how long the books take if they are good, but impatient fans want to ensure the books are coming.

Originally, Benioff and Weiss said the show would go seven seasons, which would correspond to the number of novels, but they already have broken up the third heavy tome into seasons three and four. Martin has begun talking on his blog about HBO doing 10 seasons, and says the network, which has contracted for six so far, is also interested in more. HBO programming president Michael Lombardo told Entertainment Weekly recently that he loved the idea of the show lasting a decade.

Martin has also wanted the seasons themselves to be longer than the 10 episodes made each year and has even floated the idea of a feature film to end the series. A Super Bowl Sunday screening of two repeat “Thrones” episodes on Imax screens in 205 theaters brought in $1.9 million at the box office. Not bad, but whether any of this will happen is all speculation.

“Blood, death, boobs,” quipped Emilia Clarke, the English actress known for her role as the fierce Daenerys Targaryen, when asked to sum up the series.

Set in a fantasy medieval time, sex and violence are indeed staples of the series that revolves around kings and queens vying for the ultimate prize, the Iron Throne. Last season, “Thrones” stirred controversy when Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) forced himself on his sister, Cersei (Lena Headey), next to their son’s body.

Emails and tweets poured in, some decrying the sexual violence of the show. Martin and others defended such scenes, saying it depicts a brutal world and to omit it would be dishonest.

Readers of the books might have seen it coming, the same way they would have known about the infamous “Red Wedding” or that King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) — one of the series’ most hated characters — would be poisoned at his own wedding.

There are more shocks ahead for Season 5, but not all of them come from the written page. So with a lot of blood under the bridge and four seasons behind us, here is a look at where “Game of Thrones” is and a glimpse of what is ahead.

The past

Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage): Aided by his brother, Jaime, he escapes just before he was to be executed. But before he goes, he finds his father, Tywin (Charles Dance), in the privy and kills him with two bolts from a crossbow. That was after strangling his lover who betrayed him. Then with the help of the eunuch Varys (Conleth Hill), he steals away from King’s Landing in a crate on a ship.

Arya Stark (Maisie Williams): She finally got away from the Hound, who had been hoping to ransom her, coolly walking away as he is dying and catching a ship for Braavos.

Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner): Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aidan Gillen) had spirited Sansa to Eyrie, the stronghold of her aunt. Now he’s in charge after sending auntie to an unexpected death. Sansa, though, continues to hide her real identity and is beginning to show the grit of her younger sister.

Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey): Because of her father’s death, she’s no longer being forced into an unwanted marriage. However, she revealed to dad before he died that the late King Robert Baratheon did not father her children, but they are a product of her incestuous relationship with her brother. Despite being the mother of the boy king, Tommen (Dean Charles Chapman), Cersei’s position at court is tenuous.

Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau): He’s got a metal hand and still can’t resist his sister, but inklings of a conscience and the guilt over freeing Tryion may send him in a new direction.

Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer): Although she is betrothed to Tommen, she must scheme to secure her position in these precarious times in King’s Landing.

Daenerys Stormborn (Emilia Clarke): The mother of dragons is still relentlessly leading her army’s campaign to reclaim the Iron Throne for the Targaryens. But she has been forced to banish her close adviser, Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), after discovering he had originally been a spy, and had to chain up two of her dragons while the third vanished after killing a child.

Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen): Having been tortured and castrated, he is now known as Reek and has become the servant of twisted Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), who holds the Starks’ former home of Winterfell.

Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane): Still swayed by the Red Witch, Melisandre (Carice van Houten), the king has taken an army to the Wall in the North and defeated the Wildings and their king, Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds). It’s only a momentary victory, though. He must now face the force that threatens the entire country, the dreaded undead White Walkers.

Jon Snow (Kit Harington): The bastard son of Eddard Stark remains the most honorable man in the bunch, defending the Wall with the Night’s Watch, but the appearance of Stannis puts him into a tricky political position.

Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie): The noble warrior encountered Arya and Hound, managing to kill him but letting the young girl run off. This left Brianne and her squire, Podrick (Daniel Portman), at a loss of purpose.

The future

The Season 5 opener called “The Wars Yet to Come” is definitely a place setter, having not a lot of action but allowing viewers to get a lay of the land, so to speak. It does, however, seal the fate of one character.

Eventually, the action will expand throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Along the way we will meet:

The Sand Snakes/Nymeria Sand (Jessica Henwick), Tyene Sand (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) and Obara Sand (Keisha Castle-Hughes): They are three dangerous illegitimate daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne, whose skull was crushed like a watermelon by the Hounds’ older brother, the Mountain, at King’s Landing. Seeking to avenge their father’s death, each sister wields a signature weapon and has a deadly personality to match.

Myrcella Baratheon (Nell Tiger Free): The daughter of Cersei and Jaime Lannister was sent for political reasons to be married off to Trystane Martell (Toby Sebastian), a Dorne heir. She is now the ward of Prince Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig), Trystane’s father and Oberyn’s brother, and they live in a palace in Dorne (actually the Alcazar in Seville, Spain).

The Sparrows: They are a group of religious zealots who showed up in King’s Landing after the death of Tywin. They follow the Faith of the Seven. A growing influence in the city, they are led by the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and eventually force Cersei into a humiliating position.

House of Black and White: The citadel in Braavos is the somewhat monastic headquarters of the Faceless Men, an order of assassins who change their faces as necessary. Arya is headed there for training after being helped by a member, Jaqen H’ghar (Tom Wlaschiha), in Season 2.

Brandon Stark: He’s someone you won’t see. While he survived a brutal march north last season, the boy — paralyzed from the waist down after Jaime threw him from a castle wall — will be undergoing spiritual training this year.

Rob Lowman began at the L.A. Daily News working in editing positions on the news side, including working on Page 1 the day the L.A. Riots began in 1992. In 1993, he made the move to features, and in 1995 became the Entertainment Editor for 15 years. He returned to writing full time in 2010. Throughout his career he has interviewed a wide range of celebrities in the arts. The list includes the likes of Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood to Kristin Stewart and Emma Stone in Hollywood; classical figures like Yo Yo Ma and Gustavo Dudamel to pop stars like Norah Jones, Milly Cyrus and Madonna; and authors such as Joseph Heller, John Irving and Lee Child. Rob has covered theater, dance and the fine arts as well as reviewing film, TV and stage. He has also covered award shows and written news stories related to the entertainment business. A longtime resident of Santa Clarita, Rob is still working on his first more-than-30-year marriage, has three grown children (all with master's degrees) and five guitars.

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